Guillermo del Toro Talks PG-13 Rated At The Mountains of Madness

Know what’s crazy? We can see Romero-level zombie violence on TV nowadays; yet, filmmakers like the great Guillermo del Toro still have to jump through hoops if they want to make a movie that’s rated R.

Recently Del Toro talked about possibly doing his passion project, At The Mountains of Madness PG-13 to get a wider release. Today he elaborated.

“The way Iâ€™m thinking is, PG-13 goes a long way,” Del Toro tells Collider. “Itâ€™s not that the novel is graphic, but people forget that there are crucial elements in the novel that are pretty horrific. Like the human autopsy, you know? I think thatâ€™s a dark moment. So what I would like to do is shoot it, as dark as it is, in an unrated cut and a PG-13 cut. Ideally they would be released simultaneously if thatâ€™s at all possible. We could release one [cut] in a certain format and the other in a different format with the hopes that we can offer more intense moments in one cut and equally intense moments but without graphic content in the other cut.”

He continues, “Lovecraft was famous for suggestion, and a lot of the piece can suggest, but there are [certain moments] you need to show. Part of it is budget; part of it is rating. The one thing Iâ€™ll say is that at this stage for me, Mountains is not made. So Iâ€™d rather make it in a way that doesnâ€™t compromise the content, or not do it. And, in the last few years, what has changed is that Iâ€™ve seen PG-13 films that are very intense. For me Life of Pi, the first 25 minutes of that movie were really very intense with the violence on the boat and the sinking. I came to think, ‘You know what? It is possible to go to places that are intense but still have a strong appeal for a rating.’ That, I think, is the main thing that changed.â€